


White Roses Grown from Scars

by Overthinkerwrites



Category: Ava's Demon
Genre: F/F, Inspired by Fanart, introspective, post ending fic, written with permission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-16
Updated: 2016-09-16
Packaged: 2018-08-15 08:59:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8050174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Overthinkerwrites/pseuds/Overthinkerwrites
Summary: Years after Titan's defeat, Magnolia Lacivi prefers to mind her own business. However, the past does not seem too keen on leaving well enough alone.





	White Roses Grown from Scars

“Excuse me,” a voice from behind asked her, “are you Magnolia Lacivi?”

 

She was surprised that anyone knew her name. Not this long after Titan’s defeat and the long and painful reconstruction of the many, many worlds that took place after.

 

She turned to see a young Vengess standing before her. She was dressed plainly, even had the occasional fray to blend into the crowd, but Maggie could tell she wasn’t a regular Vengess. The texture of her horns, which were still growing, had only reached out from her scalp to the middle of her neck, having yet to curl over her shoulders.

 

Her eyes were also a dead giveaway. Royal Vengess made point that their bloodlines had powerful magics added to them to ensure their legacy and that anyone that wished to join those lines were as powerful as they.

 

She had also asked politely. A polite Vengess was a contradiction in terms, as per Maggie’s experience.

 

Nevertheless, she nodded, guiding her guest to the side and out of the flow of people walking through the thoroughfare to wherever their business took them on the densely populated world she now resided. “And you are?” she asked back.

 

“Furia Bellarmina,” she answered spritely, almost eager to introduce herself, “and you have no idea how long I’ve been looking for you!”

 

Maggie blinked. The only Bellarmina she was aware of was Wrathia, and she was dead… again. It was a sore spot that had long since healed over with time due to the separation of the Vengess in question and her… host.

 

“I wasn’t aware anyone was… and I wasn’t really trying to make myself found. I got a garden here and a nice set up. No one bothers me and I’d prefer to keep it that way,” she answered more tersely than she would have liked were she in a better mood.

 

To say her last attempt as a Florani debutante on this world had ended in a dismal failure was putting it mildly. Her luck with men over the years had been proof of that, yet, like a fool, she kept trying. It had started with her teenage years, abusing Tuls’ magic to the point of near death, not to mention the vicious blow back she received from that sad pile of mulch when they had come to vicious words over her desire to use his last seed for yet another attempt for a failed lover.

 

Granted, she still had that seed. But Tuls’ wasn’t there anymore. She had acquiesced and let that love struck fool say his goodbye to Renanculae. The Florani princess was heartbroken, much to Maggie’s indifference, however, she had acquired all of Tuls’ power, and status as a Florani, as a result and had worked for the Florani Queen for a good while during the war against Titan.

 

It helped keep her busy and… other matters out of sight and out of mind.

 

“I know, however, I am not here for myself. It’s…” she looked around, hoping that the din of the crowd, along with the surrounding cityscape ambient noise would cover her next words, “it’s for my mother. She’s wanted to find you for a long time.”

 

Maggie blinked. “Your mother? But you’re a Bellarmina, the only other person that has that name…”

 

Furia waved her hands and shushed her as she whispered violently. “That’s a cover! My mother has enemies. A lot of them. So, she needs allies. People she can trust,” she leaned up and whispered in Maggie’s ear, “she only trusts the remaining Deadly Sinners.”

 

Maggie froze and took a step back. “How do you….” she paused looked at the flow of indifferent peoples, then took Furia’s hand and guided her back into the pillar of pedestrians. “We’ll talk at my garden. It’s safer there.”

 

Furia nodded with intent written in her gaze.

 

*

 

“Ok,” Maggie shot as she closed the door behind them, exposing them both to the Overgrowth, her personal Florani garden that did everything Florani needed whenever they decided to move to non-Garden worlds, “Talk. There is only a select few people that I know of that would even know who the Deadly Sinners are! And they are the Deadly Sinners.”

 

Furia’s determination faltered and she nodded. “Yes. When the war against Titan ended, all of the Sinners went their ways and vanished from public view. The only one left, or at least that I know of, is my mother. And you. The rest of them are gone. Maybe dead. Maybe in hiding. Changed faces and names. Who knows where they are. Or if they’re even alive.”

 

Maggie’s lips thinned. “Ava Ire.”

 

Furia nodded. “Yes. She wanted to raise me alone and live among the Vengess survivors in a small colony on a world similar to Vengess Prime. However, it wasn’t long before she had become the bonds that made the colony stronger. Soon, we had more Vengess joining us and it had eventually become a kingdom, of which she is one of the presiding heads and it’s growing larger by the day.”

 

Maggie’s hard gaze looked to the right as Furia continued.

 

“Well, being the heir of Bellarmina, the survivors began to believe that she was the second coming of their previous Queen, Wrathia. So, they made her Queen and despite her protestations, she agreed. While the Vengess Ascent is growing larger and claiming lost territory, it’s not perfect.”

 

“It never is,” Maggie mumbled under her breath.

 

“Not all Vengess are in agreement and she has made enemies of those who believe that Vengess need to return to the old ways that enabled them to rule over as much as Wrathia did. However, my mother is doing fine as is. She’ll easily outlive any of her enemies to restore the Empire of Wrath, but if she is murdered by those she’s to work with, then everything will come crashing down.”

 

“So, where do I come in?” Maggie asked, hoping this wasn’t going to get even more complicated.

 

“She needs your help. She knows that you have ties to Florani and their ways. They can help the Vengess. You can help her,” her enthusiasm began to falter, “she often speaks of you.”

 

Maggie stopped and looked back to the younger woman. “What?”

 

Furia nodded. “Yes. Ever since she and Odin Arrow parted ways… it’s taken a toll on her.”

 

Maggie snorted. “Of course Arrow would find some way to mess it up.”

 

Furia shook her head. “No. It wasn’t like that at all. When Pedri’s pact ended, he had severed Odin’s memories of my mother. Perhaps as a way to spite him for blocking him out for all those years,” she looked down, “their parting was amicable… but painful for my mother. She couldn’t restore his memories of her. Now, she longs for at least someone who remembers who she used to be.”

 

“Aren’t you, her kid, enough?” Maggie tried to deflect the direction of the conversation.

 

“Mother has many allies, yes, but friends are few and far in between. I love my mother dearly, and it pains me to see her so distressed. You would be a great help if you were to come and assist her,” Furia proposed as diplomatically as she could.

 

“No,” Maggie answered bluntly.

 

“What?” the veneer of dignity shattered with Maggie’s answer, that she hadn’t expected so soon.

 

“Kid, I know you mean well, but you don’t know what happened between me and your mom,” Maggie said as she took a seat on a lowered branch that adjusted itself for her.

 

Furia looked embarrassed, “mother was quite reluctant to explain what happened and I can only imagine, given Wrathia’s involvement,” she continued as she walked up to the tree Maggie sat in, “but that was in the past! This is now. And tomorrow’s at stake for my people. For me! For my mother!”

 

Maggie began to frown. “Some wounds don’t heal, kid. Ava and I never had a chance to heal ours,” she gestured wildly, “and now, there’s nothing left to salvage. Wrathia burned that bridge a long time ago!”

 

“I refuse to believe that!” Furia protested, “You wouldn’t have even come to her aid during the last battle at Titan’s Artificial Eden if you really didn’t care.”

 

Maggie’s frown grew deeper. “Kid, I think it’s time you left.”

 

Furia matched her countenance and stomped her foot in defiance. “And if I refuse?”

 

Maggie’s dark brown skin began to change texture as her Florani power began to manifest it into a much more vibrant green. She then sunk into the tree and within seconds, Furia found herself facing a colossal Maggie, who had taken the tree as a new and much more powerful form.

 

Furia gasped and realized she was in over her head.

 

Maggie, now several times taller than Furia, rumbled loud enough to shake the room, “ I will *make* you leave. As you are or in pieces or as a stain on the pavement. Your choice.”

 

Angered, Furia took a breath and huffed. “Fine. I’ll leave.” She turned and stomped to the door. As it opened, she turned back and glowered, “I still find it strange how my mother could still care for someone so unbelievably selfish! You haven’t changed. Not at all. Enjoy your solitude, Magnolia Lacivi; you’ve earned it!”

 

She stormed out through the door and Maggie glared back until the it closed.

 

At last, alone, Maggie placed her roots back into the soft roots of her garden. Thankful that it was off the beaten path enough that no one would ask questions about a Florani Colossus doing on a big world such as this. The giant soon returned to it’s natural tree form and Maggie emerged from the trunk and walked out to one of the larger ponds.

 

She clenched her fists. She was hard. She had to be. That’s how she had survived for so long. Why did the words of some Vengess brat hurt so damn much!

 

She slumped on a rock and tried to keep her anger alive, but for some reason, she had a hard time seeing. When the droplets landed on her thighs, she looked to her hands to see more moisture had fallen on them. It had come from her face. She was… no! She couldn’t be crying!

 

She sniffed loudly and held her hands to her face, trying to fight back the sobs that couldn’t be stopped. Still, the continued and Maggie found it hard to breathe or think straight as her sobs degraded into coughing.

 

For a half hour, it continued until she finally got up and started to walk around her garden. That always made her feel better. No, that wasn’t true. It never was. None of it was true.

 

Lifting up the hem of her shirt, she opened the Door of Lust, not as green as it once was, and there on the inside of the panel, was that old picture. Time had, thankfully, no tarnished or faded the picture of 8 year old Ava Ire and Magnolia Lacivi.

 

She gently took the photo out and sat on another rock formation.

 

Ava had been her only friend. Ava had told her so many times that Maggie was pretty when the other boys and girls made fun of her braces. Despite Wrathia’s interference, never once had Ava actively done anything bad to her. It was all Wrathia’s doing. If that was the case… why was it so hard to let it go and move on?

 

Why was it so hard to make amends?

 

Maggie’s lip began to quiver as she slumped over. “What have I done?” she whispered to herself.

 

Her eyes shot open when she felt a stirring within her. She could feel it. The last seed. She quickly put the photo back on the door, closed it, and sat cross legged to return to her Garden.

 

*

 

If the forest she once let Tuls live in was bad enough, now, it was literally overgrown to the point where Maggie wondered if this represented how much of a mess her soul was.

 

Nevertheless, she was able to navigate the foliage and sprint down the stairs to the hidden enclave where Tuls had worked his magic for her before.

 

When she came to the abandoned and derelict room, she gasped. 

 

In the locker, where Tuls had kept the seeds, a light struggled to emerge from the closed door.

 

Maggie ran to it, and found the lock to be harder to open than she first thought. Eventually, she planted her foot against the wall and yanked it open and off its hinges as she fell to the ground unceremoniously.

 

When she got her bearings back, she looked up and gasped.

 

The last seed had bloomed by itself!

 

And it was a white, crystalline rose!

 

She got to her feet and slowly walked back to the locker.

 

It hovered as though it were more than any of the other flowers Tuls had. It was beautiful, even more beautiful that the Blue Rose that had withered to ash the instant she gave it to Gil.

 

Curious, she reached forward when she heard a voice.

 

“Magnolia,” Tuls voice echoed, as if expecting her long before the present, “I want to thank you for assisting me with my end of the pact. And while I have no right to tell you what you should do, I purposefully kept this last seed hidden for an occasion such as this. You already know what it is used for. I can only ask you; please, use it. There is none of my magic like there was in the others. This was one crafted by you. For you.”

 

“Tuls,” she whispered, admitting that she missed him dearly, “I… I’m so sorry…. I don’t know if I can. Not after all I did… after all I said.”

 

There was no further echos from the Florani, but Maggie hoped there was. And she closed her eyes and didn’t fight the new tears that appeared, because she knew what he would have said.

 

*

 

Furia was furious. Which led to a rather disliked nickname the other young Vengess would tease her with, but that was neither here nor there.

 

She was certain she’d be able to reach Lacivi. She could sell water to a Covetess! Turns out Lacivi was as even more stubborn than she initially believed.

 

She folded her hands and exhaled loudly, trying to think of an alternative. She couldn’t exactly kidnap her. She was Florani and therefore already immune to most forms of tranquilizers. She could knock her out, because that would only make things worse.

 

Her train of thought was interrupted when a voice appeared at her side. “Alright, you win.”

 

Furia almost jumped in shock as she turned to see Maggie, the same as before when they had met in the central thoroughfare, only slightly more tired than before.

 

“L… Lacivi?” Furia asked in surprise.

 

Maggie nodded and smiled wryly. “You are Ava’s kid. You know how and where it hurts most.”

 

Furia blinked and angrily retorted, “I object! It was never my intention to…”

 

Maggie sighed and waved her off. “Nevermind!” Apparently, she had Ava’s sense of humor too; that is, there wasn’t one. Which, in retrospect, wasn’t entirely bad a thing.

 

*

 

“Mother! I’m back!” Furia announced loudly as she and Maggie entered the portal to the estate where she resided.

 

Butterflies thrashed about in Maggie’s stomach. Yes, Ava needed her help, but would she really want Maggie’s help? After all she did?

 

“Estia!” a new voice roared from down the hall, “do you have any idea how worried I was!”

 

Maggie turned to Furia. “Estia?”

 

‘Furia’ smiled. “Furia Bellarmina’s a cover. Remember?”

 

Maggie frowned, but it vanished when the sounds of another entered the entryway and instead held back a gasp.

 

It was Ava. And she was beautiful.

 

The Vengess horns curved gracefully around her skull and drapped over her shoulders and shone with a elegant nobility. She was taller. As tall as Maggie, in fact. Her dress was like the one she wore when she first changed into Vengess, but far more regal. Her hair didn’t hang, it flowed like a stream of living lava to only make her appearance divine. Her features were more pronounced, like the fairy tale of the ugly duckling that had grown to a beautiful swan.

 

“Maggie?” Ava asked, surprised and her previous agitation gone.

 

Maggie swallowed and waved awkwardly, which flustered Maggie, because she was never awkward. However, when a shove from behind caused her to step closer to Ava, accompanied by Estia’s chirping, “i’m sure you both have much to discuss! In the meantime, I’ll be elsewhere!”

 

Before Ava could scold the young Vengess, she had already vanished and Ava sighed loudly.

 

“She said you needed help,” Maggie answered, hoping to diffuse the situation.

 

“What?” Ava blinked.

 

“Aren’t you, like, Queen of the Vengess or something? With the politics and all that?”

 

Ava’s eyes widened she growled and held a palm to her face. “Estia,” she rumbled to herself. "Yes, I am the Queen of the Vengess, but I rule out of sight. The Councils I established take care of it. I’m more of an adviser than anything. Ruling was too much of a headache.“

 

Now it was Maggie’s turn to blink. "Then what was she talking….” her voice died when she realized the implications. “…dammit.”

 

Estia had set this up from the start.

 

“It looks like that’s what she was up to,” Ava finished for her.

 

“I… ” Maggie tried to get out, but now with everything she planned to say out the window, she was now tongue tied, which never happened to her.

 

“I am glad you’re here, though,” Ava said with a sad smile. “I’ve been trying to at least contact you… see how you were doing. Hope you were doing well.”

 

Maggie nodded and looked to the side. “I'm doing alright.”

 

“I apologize. I wouldn’t have wanted this for the…”

 

“No,” Maggie interrupted. “I wanted to come. I needed to come. It’s… it’s been rough since the last time.”

 

“I can imagine,” Ava answered quietly.

 

“Ava… can we… can you come into my Garden? I want to show you something,” she said, finally gathering the nerve to look Ava in the eyes.

 

The Vengess smiled pleasantly. “As long as you promise not to drop me in a crevice full of lava.”

 

Maggie winced visibly. “I deserved that.”

 

*

 

In Ava’s study, both women sat beside each other and held hands upon a couch as they fell asleep, ensuring that their connection would enable them to meet the other in the world of their minds

 

Maggie waited for Ava to emerge from the dark infernal library to the garden what was slowly coming under control.

 

“Thanks for coming,” Maggie noted as she gently took Ava’s hand and led her down a pathway into a larger tree.

 

Ava nodded as she looked around in wonder, if not slightly jealous of such a pleasant landscape inside her soul.

 

When they reached the heart of the tree, Maggie let go of Ava’s hand and went to the locker, which had a calm luminescence from within.

 

She opened the door, and turned to show Ava the Crystaline White Rose in her hands.

 

“Ava,” Maggie began, “I… I treated you horribly. I didn’t want to forgive you because I didn’t believe you when you told me the truth. I hurt you.”

She stepped forward, trying to see clearly through the tears in her eyes, “I don’t deserve your forgiveness, Ava, but… ” she sniffed once and held out the rose to Ava, “can we at least start over? Make it right, this time?”

Ava fought against the tears in her own eyes as she smiled happily. She walked forward and grasped Maggie’s hand that held the flower.

“Yes.”

Suddenly, they were both young again and both completely human. Maggie in her blue flower dress with the leaf choker and Ava in her red shift and the ugly scars on her arms.

Both of their smiles were infectious as they tried to find the words to say. Perhaps, none were needed as they both felt old wounds healing.

 

*

 

Sometime later, Estia tip toed to the entrance of her mother’s study to see Ava holding Maggie’s face in her hands.

 

When Ava reached over and kissed Maggie’s tears away, a smile grew on the young Vengess’ face.

 

When Maggie took Ava into their arms and kissed Ava on the lips, who happily reciprocated, the smile grew wider and more mischievous.

 

The plan was a success. Ava and her girlfriend would be happier in the long run and Estia would have two moms before she knew it.

 

True, she’d get punished for leading them on like this, but it was worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> Based off of a fanart from Foppishaplomb's tumblr. Written with permission. 
> 
> http://foppishaplomb.tumblr.com/post/145935053857/a-sidebar-for-my-beloved-jenny-a-blue-rose-means


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